The Little Dog Laughed - Friend makes W/E debut

IN JANUARY 2010, British actor Rupert Friend will make his West End stage debut at the Garrick Theatre in the UK premiere of Douglas Carter Beane’s Tony Award-winning comedy The Little Dog Laughed.

The four-hander, which is set in New York where it premiered in 2006, will be directed by Jamie Lloyd and co-star Tamsin Greig.

Beane’s play, a satire on Hollywood morals, centres on Mitchell (Friend), movie star, heartthrob and closet homosexual, whose acerbic agent Diane (Greig) finds a woman for him to marry in order to keep his sexuality under wraps and his career on course.

Friend is best known for his screen roles – in Pride and Prejudice (as Mr Wickham), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Lieutenant Kotler), The Young Victoria (Prince Albert) and Cheri (title role).

Greig, who won the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance in the RSC’s Much Ado About Nothing, has also appeared on stage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King John, God of Carnage and Gethsemane. She is, however, probably best known for her TV roles in Green Wing, Black Books and Love Soup.

Lloyd’s recent West End credits include Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre), Piaf (Donmar Warehouse and Vaudeville Theatre) and the Pinter double bill The Lover and The Collection (Comedy Theatre).

Beane’s other works include As Bees In Honey Drown and the hit Broadway musical Xanadu, for which he received a Tony Award nomination.